1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to children's toys primarily of the stuffed-animal, doll or action figure variety, and, in particular, to a children's toy having an RFID tag or other wireless, batteryless communication/identification device associated therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
Children's toys in the form of traditional dolls, puppets, stuffed animals and the like have been around for centuries and are an enduring favorite among children—particularly among toddler-age children. A favorite doll, stuffed animal or other similar toy can provide a much-needed imaginary friend, pet or playmate for a child who occasionally gets lonely or bored. Such “playmate” toys can also help a child to express himself or herself and to learn basic social skills that foster personality development and overall social adjustment.
Most traditional playmate toys are simple stuffed animals, puppets or molded plastic dolls and the like. Most are mass produced and distributed nationally and/or internationally via a vast network of stores, wholesalers, retailers and other distributors. Many of these toys embody, represent or are otherwise associated with a particular licensed television character or personality, such as the Sesame Street™ puppets, Barney and Friends™, or the various Disney™ characters. Thus, the familiarity and likeability of the licensed character creates demand for the licensed toy. Others are simple generic forms representing people, animals, cars, robots, friendly monsters, and/or other imaginative creations.
Some playmate toys are personalized via individual names, birth certificates, etc. For example, the once-popular Cabbage Patch Kids™ came complete with individualized facial and hair features, name and official birth certificate. Another popular toy vendor, Build 'a Bear™, takes the concept of personalization even further by allowing and encouraging children to actually pick out, stuff, dress and name their favorite stuffed-animal playmate toy. In many cases, the vendor/retailer continues to provide periodic birthday reminder cards, custom wardrobe selections, notices of special events and the like even after the toy is purchased. All of these individualized “personality” touches can make an otherwise-inanimate playmate toy seem more real and fun for a child and helps foster that certain special relationship and bond that often develops between a child and his or her favorite playmate toy.
Another recent improvement involves uniquely identifying a stuffed animal toy with a bar-code tag that is inserted into the stuffing of the toy and which can be “surgically” extracted and read using conventional bar-code technology. The internal bar code tag is useful in helping identify lost or stolen stuffed animals and to return them to their rightful owners. However, use of an internal bar code tag in this manner is inconvenient and can potentially damage the stuffed animal during surgical extraction and replacement. On the other hand, placing the bar code tag on an accessible exterior portion of the stuffed animal could impair the aesthetics and functionality of the toy, possibly posing choking hazards and/or increasing the risk that the tag becomes separated from the stuffed animal.